Consistency of Continuous Ambulatory Interstitial Glucose Monitoring Sensors

Current Technologies for Managing Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Their Impact on Quality of Life-A Narrative Review

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects millions of people and generates high healthcare costs due to frequent complications when inappropriately managed. Our paper aimed to review the latest technologies used in T1DM management for better glycemic control and their impact on daily life for people with diabetes. Continuous glucose monitoring systems provide a better understanding of daily glycemic variations for children and adults and can be easily used. These systems diminish diabetes distress and improve diabetes control by decreasing hypoglycemia. Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusions have proven their benefits in selected patients. There is a tendency to use more complex systems, such as hybrid closed-loop systems that can modulate insulin infusion based on glycemic readings and artificial intelligence-based algorithms. It can help people manage the burdens associated with T1DM management, such as fear of hypoglycemia, exercising, and long-term complications. The future is promising and aims to develop more complex ways of automated control of glycemic levels to diminish the distress of individuals living with diabetes.

Overcoming the blood–brain barrier for the therapy of malignant brain tumor: current status and prospects of drug delivery approaches

Besides the broad development of nanotechnological approaches for cancer diagnosis and therapy, currently, there is no significant progress in the treatment of different types of brain tumors. Therapeutic molecules crossing the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and reaching an appropriate targeting ability remain the key challenges. Many invasive and non-invasive methods, and various types of nanocarriers and their hybrids have been widely explored for brain tumor treatment. However, unfortunately, no crucial clinical translations were observed to date. In particular, chemotherapy and surgery remain the main methods for the therapy of brain tumors. Exploring the mechanisms of the BBB penetration in detail and investigating advanced drug delivery platforms are the key factors that could bring us closer to understanding the development of effective therapy against brain tumors. In this review, we discuss the most relevant aspects of the BBB penetration mechanisms, observing both invasive and non-invasive methods of drug delivery. We also review the recent progress in the development of functional drug delivery platforms, from viruses to cell-based vehicles, for brain tumor therapy. The destructive potential of chemotherapeutic drugs delivered to the brain tumor is also considered. This review then summarizes the existing challenges and future prospects in the use of drug delivery platforms for the treatment of brain tumors.

Metabolic Implications of Diet and Energy Intake during Physical Inactivity

PURPOSE

Physical inactivity is associated with disruptions in glucose metabolism and energy balance, whereas energy restriction may blunt these adverse manifestations. During hypocaloric feeding, higher-protein intake maintains lean mass which is an important component of metabolic health. This study determined whether mild energy restriction preserves glycemic control during physical inactivity and whether this preservation is more effectively achieved with a higher-protein diet.

METHODS

Ten adults (24 ± 1 yr) consumed a control (64% carbohydrate, 20% fat, 16% protein) and higher-protein diet (50% carbohydrate, 20% fat, 30% protein) during two 10-d inactivity periods (>10,000 → ~5000 steps per day) in a randomized crossover design. Energy intake was decreased by ~400 kcal·d to account for reduced energy expenditure associated with inactivity. A subset of subjects (n = 5) completed 10 d of inactivity while consuming 35% excess of their basal energy requirements, which served as a positive control condition (overfeeding+inactivity).

RESULTS

Daily steps were decreased from 12,154 ± 308 to 4275 ± 269 steps per day (P < 0.05) which was accompanied by reduced V˙O2max (-1.8 ± 0.7 mL·kg·min, P < 0.05), independent of diet conditions. No disruptions in fasting or postprandial glucose, insulin, and nonesterified fatty acids in response to 75 g of oral glucose were observed after inactivity for both diet conditions (P > 0.05). Overfeeding+inactivity increased body weight, body fat, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, and 2-h postprandial glucose and insulin concentrations (P < 0.05), despite no changes in lipid concentrations.

CONCLUSIONS

We show that independent of diet (normal vs higher-protein), mild energy restriction preserves metabolic function during short-term inactivity in healthy subjects. That is, metabolic deterioration with inactivity only manifests in the setting of energy surplus.